quotes E
Election having once pitched upon a man, it will find him out and call him home, wherever he be. It called Zaccheus out of accursed Jericho; Abraham out of idolatrous Ur of the Chaldees; Nicodemus and Paul, from the College of the Pharisees, Christ's sworn enemies; Dionysius and Damaris, out of superstitious Athens. In whatsoever dunghills God's elect are hid, election will find them out and bring them home. --JOHN ARROWSMITH
God chooses us, not because we believe, but that we may believe. --AUGUSTINE
For it is utterly impossible that any finite cause, created power, or anything out of God himself, should primarily move and incline the eternal, immutable, uncreated, omnipotent will of God. The true original and prime motive of all gracious, bountiful expressions and effusions of love upon his elect, is the good pleasure of his will. And therefore to hold that election to life is made upon foresight of faith, good works the right use of free will, or any created motive, is not only false and wicked, but also ignorant and absurd tenet. To say no more at this time, it robs God of his all-sufficiency, making him go out of himself, looking to this or that in the creature, upon which his will may be determined to elect. - ROBERT BOLTON
Remember also that this fear of the Lord is His treasure, a choice jewel, given only to favourites, and to those who are greatly beloved.-- John Bunyan
God foreordained, for his own glory and the display of his attributes of mercy and justice, a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to eternal salvation.- John Calvin
The ground of discrimination that exists among men is the sovereign will of God and that alone; but the ground of damnation to which the reprobate are consigned is sin and sin alone. --JOHN CALVIN
My Lord, I did not choose You,
For that could never be;
My heart would still refuse You,
Had You not chosen me.
You took the sin that stained me,
You cleansed me, made me new;
Of old you have ordained me,
That I should live in You.
Unless Your grace had called me
And taught my op'ning mind,
The world would have enthralled me,
To heav'nly glories blind.
My heart knows none above You;
For Your rich grace I thirst.
I know that if I love You,
You must have loved me first."
Josiah Conder, 1789-1855
As God did not at first choose you because you were high, so he will not forsake you because you are low.-- -- John Flavel
Oh despise not election! therein lies all your hope, that there is a remnant who shall infallibly be saved.-- Thomas Goodwin
None can know their election but by their conformity to Christ; for all who are chosen are chosen to sanctification.--MATTHEW HENRY
Holiness is the only evidence of election. --CHARLES HODGE
God graciously elected some to salvation, and he decreed justly to leave others to their deserts.-- R. B. KUIPER
The sincere student of Scripture cannot avoid the truth of God's choice of individuals from among the sinful race of men. We may not understand this, but we must never deny it. Scripture is filled with this great truth: it is not an isolated doctrine of the Word.... Robert J. Lightner
I knew nothing; I was nothing. For this reason God picked me out.-- Catherine Laboure
Election. The foundation of salvation itself in the eternal election of the Father is "in Christ." Paul says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world" (Eph. 1:3, 4). The Father elected from all eternity, but He elected in Christ. . . there was no election of the Father in eternity apart from Christ. And that means that those who will be saved were not even contemplated by the Father in the ultimate counsel of His predestinating love apart from union with Christ--they were chosen in Christ. As far back as we can go in tracing salvation to its foundation we find "union with Christ"; it is not something tacked on; it is there from the outset. John Murray (Redemption Accomplished and Applied,
The names and number of the elect are a secret thing, no-- doubt...But if there is one thing clearly and plainly laid down about election, it is this - that elect men and women may be known and distinguished by holy lives. J. C. RYLE
"Moreover whom he did predistinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified". Romans 8:30
"Observe the steps in salvation that Paul describes in these verses:
1) "Whom he did foreknow... ";
2) "...he also did predestinate" (verse 29);
3) "Whom he did predestinate, them he also called";
4) "And whom he called, them he also justified";
5)"And whom he justified, them he also glorified."
If God has chosen you, you're as good as in heaven now! If God has justified you, rest quietly, beloved, you will be in heaven.
Too often God's choosing is presented in such a cold theological fashion. It is treated as though it were merely a process of selection and elimination. But when Paul wrote these words, he had only one purpose: to give you assurance. If the idea of predestination is presented in such a way that it decreases your assurance, then it isn't being presented the way the Bible teaches it. The Bible only teaches about God's choosing in order to give you assurance of your salvation. If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, your heart can be still. He'll carry you through the gates of glory.
Having spoken of God's assurance in choosing us for salvation, Paul now finds assurance in the fact that God sent His Son Jesus to die for us.
F.A. Schaeffer "The Finished Work of Christ" Crossway Books, 1998 p. 227
I only know this, that if He had not sought me out, I would never have come to Him.-- Charles Haddon Spurgeon
I'm so glad that God chose me before the foundation of the world, because he never would have chosen me after I was born!
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
I believe in the doctrine of election, because I am quite sure that if God had not chosen me I would neverwould have chosen him; and I am sure he chose me before I was born, or else he never would have chose me afterward.-- C. H. SPURGEON
We can never know that we are elected of God to eternal life except by manifesting in our lives the fruits of election.--B. B. WARFIELD
The marvel of marvels is not that God, in his infinite love, has not elected all this guilty race to be saved, but that he has elected any. --B. B.WARFIELD
Whom he predestinated, them he also called'. Election is the foundation-cause of our vocation. It is not because some are more worthy to partake of the heavenly calling than others, for we were 'all in our blood' (Ezek. 16:6). What worthiness is in us? What worthiness was there in Mary Magdelene, out of whom seven devils were cast? What worthiness in the Corinthians, when God began to call them by the gospel? They were fornicators, effeminate, idolaters. 'Such were some of you, but ye are washed'. Before effectual calling, we were not only without strength, but 'enemies' (Col. 1:21). So that the foundation of vocation is election. -- THOMAS WATSON
God does not choose us for faith but to faith. --THOMAS WATSON
Let a man go to the grammar school of faith and repentance before he goes to the university of election and predestination. GEORGE WHITEFIELD
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment